Railway-signal



(No Model.).

H. E. BOOTHBY. RAILWAY SIGNAL.

Patented Apr. 9, 1896.

HORACE E. BOO'IHBY, OF OHICAGQ,

PATENT OFFI E.

ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE HALL SIGNAL COMPANY, OF MAINE.

RAILWAY-SIGNAL.

srn'crrrca'rron forming part of Letters me t No. 537,268, dated April 9,1895.

' Application filed November 30, 392. Serial No. 453,603- oa model.)

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, HORACE BOOTHBY, ofChicago, in the county of Cook' and State of Illinois, have inventedcertainnew and useful Improvements in Railway-Signals, of

which the following is a specification, refer ence being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part hereof. My invention relates torailway visual sig [0 nals and it has for its object to provide aninclosed signal whose indications will be dis tinctly visible by day'andnight and whose operation may be efiected'electrically and antomatically if desired; A

The invention consists of the construction hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings, in which like letters des ignate similar partsthroughout the several views, Figure l is a rear elevation, partly insection, of a signal embodying myinvention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged rear elevation of the signal disks and theiroperating mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the upper part of the case on line asm, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an end'view of Fig. 2 with the armature partly insection. Fig. 5 is a front view of part of Fig. 2, showing one helix ofthe electro-mag net, its core extension, and part of the armature' inengagement therewith. Fig. ,6 is a detail-(to reduce scale) showingarmature in position with magnet demagnetized. Fig. 7

is a plan view of armature and supporting bracket. v

A is a casing, provided in front and rear 3 5 with largeregisteringapertures a, and a and also with smaller registeringapertures 01. and

(1 in front and rear, all of which, as shown,'

may be covered with plates of glass. Within the casing are the signaldisks B and '0, fixed 40 upon an armature-E, turning upon an axis E andcontrolled by the motor D. 'The disk B is the day signal disk andrnovesin and'out of register with the apertures a, a and the disk 0 is thenight signal disk and moves in 5 and out of register with the aperturesa, a*.

If it is intended that these disks shall indicate danger whenregistering with their apertures they will be suitably colored, as forexample red, the day disk being in this case preferably opaque orsemi-opaque, so as to reflect sunlight and the night disk being pref- Ihave shown them as concurrently appearing at their apertures, they mightbe arranged to appear dis-simultaneously. In this latter case theappearance of oue disk' would indicate danger and the appearance of theother would cause a safety indication, by obscuring a red lantern forexample.

f In the usual form of the signal the disks are both danger disks, andregister concurrently at their respective apertures, as shown in thedrawings, and they are preferably so arranged that when left to theaction of gravity they will register with'th eir apertures, be-

ing moved out of register by the energization of the actuatingmechanism, but this arrangement is not always essential.

The actuating mechanism is preferably constructed as follows: The polesat of the electromagnetsD D, are prolonged laterally as shown-particularly in Figs. 4 and 5, so as to be embraced'by wings e e,curved upon the are of a circle from the same radius but in oppositedirections, and extending from the ends of a bar of soft iron formingthe body of the arma ture E, which is pivoted centrally (slightly belowtheelectro-magnets) between the arms ff, of a bracket F, which iscarried by and adapted to be adjusted lengthwise in a grooved bracket G,fastened to the inner face of the front board of the case A. The pivot Eof the armature is preferably of trunnion form,

secured by screws, as seen in Fig. 7, The wings e e of the'armature areeachmade up of two curved plates or arms placed a sufficient distanceapart to enable them'to straddle or embrace the prolongated poles at of"the magnets, so that while free to move thereupon, a full and efficientcontact is' made by the armature with said poles when the magnets areenergized-and one arm of each wing is preferably longer than itscompanion, so as to always maintain contact with or remain in closeproximity to the poles at when the electro-magnets are demagnetized, soas to be easily attracted when the circuit is made and thus economizingbattery power in operating the signal. See particularly Fig. 6.

e is a connecting pin or brace between the arms of each wing near theirouter ends, set to one side as seen in Fig 4, so as to allow thearmature to move past the poles to the full end of its throw.

The day signal disk B is connected closely by a short metal piece I) toone end of the pivoted armature E, while to the opposite end of thearmature is connected a rod 0, to which may be adjustably secured abalancing-weight c, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, if found neoessary,and to the extremity of this rod is attached the night signal disk0, this arrangement insuring concurrent movement of both signals withthe one armature.

By providing apertures in front and rear of the casing for the day diskthe engineer is enabled, upon looking back after having passed a signal,to see that the signal gives the proper indication. Moreover theseapertures will present normally, that is, when the disk Bis out ofregister with them, a stationary disk which, if the plates of glasscovering the apertures are both plain and transparent, will be whitefrom the sunlight. This stationary disk will contrast strongly with thecolor of the casing and also with the disk B, and thus make the absenceof the disk B from its apertures clearly distinct at a great distancefrom the signal, and at the same time will operate as a stationarysignal disk arranged to be obscured by the disk 13 and to give apositive indication different from the disk B. In the case of the nightsignal the two apertures enable me to hang the lantern upon the back ofthe casing, thus avoiding the necessity of opening the casing to put thelantern inside, and thereby preventing probable disturbance of thesignal mechanisms.

Various changes which will readilysuggest themselves to any one skilledin the art may of course be made without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a railway signal, the combination of a casing having an aperturein the front for a night signal,and two registering apertures in frontand back for a day signal arranged to present a stationary disk to giveone positive character of indication, a day signal disk and a separatenight signal disk arranged to move in and out of register with theirapertures, the day signal disk operating when in register with itsapertures to give one positive character of indication and obscure thedisk which the apertures normally present, and when out of register withthe apertures to permit them to disclose their normal disk to giveanother positive character of indication, substantially as set forth.

2. In a railway signal, the combination of a casing having tworegistering apertures in front and back for a night signal, and tworegistering apertures in front and back for a day signal arranged tonormally present a stationary disk to give one positive character ofindication, a day signal disk and a separate night signal disk arrangedto move in and out of register with their apertures, the day signal diskoperating when in register with its apertures to give one positivecharacter of indication and obscure the disk which the aperturesnormally present, and when out of register with the apertures to permitthem to disclose their normal disk to give another positive character ofindication, substantially as set forth.

3. In a railway signal, the combination of a casing having an aperturein the front for a night signal, and two registering apertures in frontand back for a day signal arranged to present a stationary disk to giveone positive character of indication, a day signal disk and a separatenight signal disk fixed upon a pivoted arm provided with wing armaturesand a magnet for operating the armatures so as to enable the signaldisks to move in and out of register with their apertures, the (laysignal disk operating when in register with its apertures to give onepositive character of indication and obscure the disk which theapertures normally present, and when out of register with the aperturesto permit; them to disclose their normal disk to give another positivecharacter of indication, substantially as set forth.

4. In a railway signal, the combination of a casing having tworegistering apertures in front and back for a night signal, and tworegistering apertures in front and back for a day signal arranged tonormally present a stationary disk to give one positive character ofindication, a day signal disk and a separate night signal disk fixedupon a pivoted arm provided with wing armatures and a magnet foroperating the armature so as to enable the signal disks to move in andout of register with their apertures, the day signal disk operating whenin register with its apertures to give one positive character ofindication and obscure the disk which the apertures normally present,and when out of register with the apertures to permit them to disclosetheir normal disk to give another positive character of indication,substantially as set forth.

. HORACE E. BOOTHBY. Witnesses:

HENRY D. WILLIAMS,

Roar. A. KELLOND.

ICC

